MEGHA ARYAN, OP
She faced much opposition as she boldly chased her dream to be an actor, but young Dyna refused to be deterred.
Acting has always been her first love. But for twenty-year-old Dyna, sometimes referred to as the ‘Kangana Ranaut of the Oriya film industry,’ the path to becoming an actor was not smooth. “Why is acting considered a dirty profession,”asks Dyna at the start of her interview to Orissa POST. It is a question to which she has not received a satisfactory answer.
Dyna has worked in two Oriya films, ‘Tu Mo Love Story’ and ‘Tu Hi Re’. She has also featured in a TV serial ‘Tejaswini’ and several albums in Hindi and Oriya including ‘Heart-attack Kardi,’ ‘Mana Mora Jhure,’ ‘Eise Na Mujhe Tum Dekho.’
Dyna’s parents Srinibas and Sulochana Behera named her Sabita. She dropped this name when she entered the film industry as she believes that ‘Dyna’ suits her better. Dyna began her career as a model at the age of 18. “With the support of faculty of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, the opportunities were ample,” she says. She took part in most of the co-curricular activities in the college.
“Director Tapas Sargharia Sir gave me the break in his movie ‘Tu Mo Love Story’ as the second lead actress. I wasn’t quite sure if I should take this very first opportunity or wait for a few more years till my acting skills were fully honed. After giving it some thought, I said ‘yes’ and did the film,” she says.
Dyna’s parents would have been happy to see her become an engineer or doctor or a homemaker. But their hopes were dashed when she failed in Class X. They felt that she should now study only as much as was necessary to attract a good groom. But Dyna had plans of her own and they did not match her parents’ goals for her. She managed to complete the Plus II exams somehow.
“For others acting is not a good profession because they feel a girl can be exploited and she will not find good suitors, but for me the challenge of getting into a ‘forbidden’ career was tempting. For the first time, I had felt love for something, and it was acting. I loved it wholeheartedly. I started caring for my looks. I realised soon that I was beautiful and brave, contrary to what others thought about me. My family and friends were all against me, and I had no choice but to prove them wrong,” says the rebellious Dyna.
Coming from a conservative family, she ran away to the capital city Bhubaneswar to chase her dreams. “I could have stayed with my family, had they confined me to the four walls of our house. But I had dreams, and I couldn’t let them go easily. My parents not only rejected my idea of becoming an actress but also stopped paying heed even to my small achievements. I felt it would be of no use if I continued to stay at home. The trophies which I won for my acting skills at school seemed to be pushing me to take a final call.”
“At the age of 16, I ran away from all the conservative people who were trying to clip my wings. I stayed in a friend’s hostel for four days before the police caught me to shatter the dream world I had created for myself. They took me back safely to the village of Kendrapara from where I had come. It was an embarrassing situation. I couldn’t face my parents. I’m the youngest of five sisters and a brother. I could hear people murmuring, ‘Sabita has shamed her family and the village’s name.’ However, I wasn’t ashamed of what I had done… I was scared that I would have to abandon my dreams.”
The aspiring actress decided not to drag out the fights with her family and, instead, chose to keep to herself. Her family was divided:on one side were her four sisters who, along with her parents, were trying everything to convince her to give up on her dreams, while on the other side was her brother, who nervously supported her. “My brother always supported me. I admire him for that. I know how difficult it is to go against your family which loves you so dearly. Seeing my brother take my side only made me more determined to stick with my decision to be an actor.”
Soon success came Dyna’s way and things changed completely for her. After her first film, Dyna became the favourite of her family. Her mother loved to watch her in TV serials and insisted that she accept them more often, but she was also happy to see her daughter on the big screen. Now, at least her family is happy with her work, even though some of the people in her village continue to be negative, believing that she is going against their culture by wearing western clothes.
